Operation Keep the Secret
by sparksfly16
Summary: Rikki tells Zane she wants to take a break, but he isn't that understanding. Now it's up to Cleo, Emma, and Lewis to help protect Rikki from getting exposed as a mermaid.
1. Chapter 1

**I read online that in season 3 of h20 Rikki and Zane break-up. This is my verison of what I think will happen. The story is in Rikki's POV.**

**I don't own h20 or any of the characters.**

Prologue

As my body hit the water I knew there was only one person who could help me and he was the whole reason I was in this mess. I looked him straight in the eyes and said, "Plese don't do this." Then I counted down the seconds, 10...9...8...

End of Prologue

"Race you!" I shouted.

"I'm going to beat you there." Emma said. However, I made it to the moon pool first. Emma popped up beside me a couple seconds later. Finally, after a few moments, Cleo came up.

"No fair, I wasn't ready." She whined.

"Which is why you finished last." I said with a laugh. Soon we all joined in, our tails glistening. "That was the fastest I've ever gone." I said, okay, bragged.

"So that makes the score Rikki 12, me 9, and Cleo 2." Emma said Cleo's score with a smile.

"I'll catch up to you guys someday." Cleo said. "We're having a rematch tomorrow."

"I can't, I have a date with Zane." I said.

"What's wrong, you're usually so excited about your dates." Emma said.

"It's just that I love Zane and I'm not quite sure if he loves me as much as I love him." I admitted.

"Why? He's always talking about you." Cleo noted.

"Well, I've seen the way he looks at other girls. And those girls have a lot more than I do. They live in manisons and I live in a trailer." I said. I splashed the water in frustration.

"Come on, that's never bothered him before." Emma said.

"I just want to take a break. I'm not saying break-up for good. It's just that I don't want to fall for someone who isn't going to catch me." I said. We were all silent for a while.

"That's deep," Cleo finally said.

"Shut up," I said with a laugh. I splashed her with some water and we all started laughing again.

"Seriously though," Emma started after we stopped laughing. "If you think you need a break from him, we'll support 100 percent." She said. Cleo nodded in agreement.

"You guys are awesome. Now let's head back; Lewis has to help me with my English project." I turned to go, but Cleo stopped me.

"Wait, what if Zane gets mad and threatens to expose us. Then we'll be in big trouble and I mean big. We'll be stuck inside and I won't be able to go shopping." She was starting to sound frantic.

"First of all, great to know shopping comes before our safety and second, Zane isn't like, I'm sure he'll understand." I said. Cleo breathed a sigh of relief, but now Emma seemed a little uneasy. We ducked down into the water and headed home.

**Thoughts? Please review!**


	2. Chapter 2

**I read online that in season 3 of h20 Rikki and Zane break-up. This is my verison of what I think will happen. The story is in Rikki's POV. Thanks for all the reviews!**

**I don't own h20 or any of the characters.**

"What's wrong Rikki? You seem distracted." Zane said. We were on our date and I was going to ask him to take a break.

"I've just been thinking about some things." I replied.

"Like what?" He asked.

"I, I think we should take a break." I said.

"What?" Zane asked.

"I said, I think we should take a break." I repeated.

"From what?"

"Us," I said. I thought he would understand and agree; boy was I wrong. Zane stuck his foot out and I tripped and fell in the water.

"You're going to regret that Rikki, I'd watch your back." Zane replied as my tail appeared. Zane just stared at me and finally when the tears started brim in my eyes, I ducked down under the water and swam away.

"What were his exact words?" Emma asked for the hundredth time that day.

"His exact words, 'you're going to regret that', and, 'I'd watch your back.'" I answered.

"But what does that mean?" Cleo asked, throwing her hands up in frustration. I shrugged but Lewis said, "He's going to expose Rikki."

I was shocked, a million questions zoomed in my head but we all blurted out the same one at the same time."How?"

"I'm assuming he's going to be watching Rikki seeing when she's near water and when she is, well I don't have to say it." Lewis answered.

"Don't worry Rikki. We'll never let that happen." Emma said and put her hand on my shoulder.

"No. It's too dangerous for you to be there if he exposes me. If I'm going down I'm not taking you with me." I replied.

"Rikki, please just let us help. We promise we won't do anything that would put us in that position but Emma and I are not just going to watch this happen." Cleo almost shouted.

"I'll help too. If you're near water Emma and Cleo can be farther away and I'll stay with you." Lewis suggested. I looked around at my three best friends, two of them willing to risk becoming a science experiment to help me. I hugged all three of them and said, "You guys are the best friends a person could ever have."

The next day all four of us were at the Juice Net café, and I'm positive we all looked a little paranoid. Lewis kicked my shin and pointed toward the door. "Zane!" We all whispered. Of course he saw us right away and started heading for our booth, we were all still.

"Rikki come with me, Cleo you stay with Lewis. Make sure neither of you are ever alone." Emma whispered. Emma and I got up and headed for the back door. As soon as we were out we ran to Emma's house. Emma sent Lewis a text telling him we were safe and I made sure all the doors and windows were locked for the eighth time since we got here.

"I just can't believe Zane would really do this!" Emma said. "After saving us from Dr. Denman and getting you out when Nate splashed you." I looked at her with a confused look. She plopped on the couch and said, "It just doesn't make sense, Zane's had plenty of chances to expose you and he chooses now." I think she was talking aloud to herself so I didn't say anything.

I looked out a window and saw how beautiful the day was then; I looked at Emma sitting on the couch flipping through a magazine. I was fed up with hiding; sure I'd only been here for about 10 minutes but still. "I'm leaving." I declared.

"What you can't leave! Zane could be heading over here right now." Emma said. Just then the doorbell rang. We looked at each other and I went to go sit on the stairs where whoever was at the door couldn't see me.

"Hi Nate," I heard Emma say, "No Rikki's not here right now …. Oh well tell Zane I haven't seen her….Nice talking to you, bye." I came down from the stairs and Emma said, "This is dangerous, he has his friends looking for you. I'll ask my mom if you can sleepover."

I headed for the back door and said, "I hate this! Not only am I trapped inside but you are too. I'll sleepover tonight but I'm not spending a whole day inside."

"Rikki wait! Nate could be two houses down." Emma called after me. But it was too late I had made up my mind, sooner or later I was going to run out of places to hide. I walked to the docks and jumped in the water. There was only one place that I could clear my mind and Emma and Cleo would be there soon.

I arrived at the moon pool in minutes and had been there for over 5 minutes when I heard them. "Why are we here? It's so creepy." Nate said. I ducked under the water.

**Thoughts? Please review!**


	3. Chapter 3

**I read online that in season 3 of h20 Rikki and Zane break-up. This is my verison of what I think will happen. The story is in Rikki's POV. Thanks for all the reviews!**

**I don't own h20 or any of the characters.**

_I arrived at the moon pool in minutes and had been there for over 5 minutes when I heard them. "Why are we here? It's so creepy." Nate said. I ducked under the water._

"I told you I'm looking for something." Zane said. _Or someone_, I thought.

Zane started walking towards the water and that's when I realized Nate had a camera. "Nate go back to the boat. I'll be there in a second." Zane called back to him. I saw Nate leave, I mean run, to the cave exit.

"Rikki," Zane whispered, "Where are you? Trust me, I don't have any cameras or stuff like that." I debated whether or not I should go and finally I came up.

"What?" I snapped.

"I knew you were there." He said with a smug look on his face. I was this close to starting a fire right near him but decided against it.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Emma and Cleo watching us from the underwater cave entrance. "Look Zane I'm not interested in anything you have to say right now so just leave." I said.

"If that's how you want it Rikki, see you around." Zane said and then left.

A few seconds later Emma and Cleo popped up. "You were really good Rikki. You told it short, sweet and direct." Cleo said, patting me on the back.

"Yeah, we're really proud of you." Emma said.

"Thanks guys but you do know we can't come back here now. We'll never know if Zane has a camera set up here or not until it's too late." I said.

"Okay, but one last request while we're here." Cleo said. Emma and I both looked at each other confused. Then Cleo shouted, "Race you!", and ducked under the water. Emma and I laughed and then ducked down fully aware that we could beat Cleo with our tails tied together.

"I still can't believe Emma beat me!" Cleo exclaimed. She threw up her hands and fell on top of Emma's bed.

"Cleo give it up, the only person you could beat is Lewis and if you weren't a mermaid I'm not even sure about that." I said with a laugh. We were all in our jim-jams and once again Cleo came in last place.

"So what are you guys doing tomorrow?" I asked.

"I have a date with Lewis." Cleo said.

"And I have a date with Ash." Emma added.

"Oh." I said.

"Don't worry Rikki; Cleo's date is at 8:00 and my date is at 6:00 we won't leave you alone with Zane in the same continent." Emma said.

"Thanks. So what movie are we going to watch?" I asked.

"No movie tonight." Emma said looking out the window. Cleo and I looked at each other and walked to the window. It was Zane walking to Emma's front door.

"Why does he always come here? Next time we're going over Cleo's house." Emma said.

"Should we get the door?" Cleo asked.

"No," I said, "Cleo call Lewis and tell him to come over but to use the back door and call us when he's here. Emma go tell your Mom that Zane is going to ring the doorbell and not to let him in because he's looking for me. When Emma gets back we'll lock the door." They did as told and the door was locked when we heard the ring of the Gilbert's doorbell.

Emma opened the pizza box and we all took a slice, all of a sudden we heard footsteps coming from down the hall. "Zane really the girls are sleeping." Emma's mom's voice filled the hall.

Cleo made an up and down motion signaling me to shut the lights off. I ran to the switch and the light flickered off, then we sat in silence listening to Zane and Mrs. Gilbert argue. "Zane the girls are asleep," suddenly Mrs. Gilbert's voice became louder, "You can check if you want but I'm sure they'll be sound asleep."

We all started running around, turning off cell phones, hiding the pizza box, and finally getting under our blankets. We were all fake sleeping by the time we heard the door open.

"See Zane I told you." Mrs. Gilbert said, sounding pretty annoyed.

"Fine." Zane said.

A few minutes later Mrs. Gilbert came back and told us that Zane had left.

"Thanks so much Mom." Emma said.

"No problem girls. Lights out at 11:00, good night." She said and shut the door.

"Lewis called," Cleo said, "I should probably go get the door." She got up and shut the door on her way out.

"Do you think Zane's given up?" Emma asked.

I thought about that for a few seconds and said, "I don't know. Even if we think he has we'll still have to watch our backs." She nodded and grabbed the pizza from under the bed.

Cleo came back after a few minutes. "I told Lewis everything that happened and he's going to follow Zane. He'll call us if anything happens there and we'll call him if anything happens here." She said, then plopped down on the floor with her piece of pizza, wait a second. "Hey that's mine!" I said.

"Oh," Cleo giggled. "You noticed." I smiled and nodded my head. She handed my piece over and took hers. "So what are we going to do about Zane?" She asked.

"No. We're not just going to spend the night talking about Zane." I said.

"Alright." Emma agreed. We talked until 11:00 and then fell fast asleep.

**Oh my gosh have you guys seen the trailer for season 3 of h20? I am so excited! Thoughts? Please review!**


	4. Chapter 4

**I read online that in season 3 of h20 Rikki and Zane break-up. This is my verison of what I think will happen. The story is in Rikki's POV. Thanks for all the reviews!**

**I don't own h20 or any of the characters.**

The next morning we were all hanging out at Cleo's house. Her dad and sister weren't home so Lewis was telling us about what he saw when he was following Zane.

"He just went over Nate's house and then straight home." Lewis told us.

"That's so weird." Cleo said. Emma and I nodded in agreement.

"All I know is our next sleepover is at Cleo's house. Zane seems to think you're always at my house." Emma said.

Cleo looked at her watch and said, "I have to get to work." We all stood up and went outside.

"Lewis and I have are just going to hang out for a little while. Rikki you coming with us?" Emma asked.

"Yeah, I'm still a little nervous about being alone." I replied.

"It's understandable." Lewis said.

"My break's at 12 if you want to meet me then." Cleo said heading off. We nodded yes and then starting walking to the cafe.

"Uh-oh. Here comes trouble." Emma muttered to us. Zane was walking towards us and it looked like he was going to stop to say hi.

Sure enough, he stopped when he saw us. "Hey guys!" He said unusally happy.

"Hello Zane," Emma said coldly.

"What's wrong, I just wanted to ask if you want a soda," Zane said.

"If it'll make you leave sooner, then fine." Lewis said.

"Okay, three sodas coming up." Zane said. He threw one to each of us and one by one we opened the lid.

However when I opened my lid, it splashed all over me. "Idiot!" I screamed at Zane as I took off for the water. Once I was safely in the water, I looked around to see if anyone else was on the boardwalk, but no one was. I raised my arm and then shot a lightning bolt next to Zane. He screamed like a little girl.

"Perfect," I said before diving under the water.

I swam to the dock at Emma's and hoisted myself up. Then I dried my tail off until it disappeared and stood up. Lewis and Emma were waiting for me.

"What did I ever see in him?" I asked bitterly.

"Hey, it's okay. You're just lucky you got away, he was reaching for you when you ran away." Lewis said.

"Well, now we cannot trust Zane with anything. He offers you a ride, you run the other way. He offers you a drink-" Emma started.

"You throw it at him." I declared with a laugh.

"Exactly," Emma said.

"What are we going to do?" I asked after the laughter died down.

"I don't know, it's almost like he's tracking you," Lewis said.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Well, how would he know that we were on that boardwalk? He obviously had your soda already shaken." Lewis explained.

"I don't know. I mean you've been following him and you didn't see anything right?" Emma asked.

Suddenly I saw something move in the distance. "What was that?" I whispered.

"What?" Emma asked.

"I saw something over there." I pointed. They looked over and sure enough the bush was still moving.

"Well, it's seems Zane had someone spying for him." Lewis said.

"We've got to go find..." Lewis started but he stopped.

"Who?" Emma asked. 'Cleo' She mouthed. Lewis nodded. I went over to grab my bag.

"Hey my phone's gone!" I called to them.

"What, that's not possible it was there when we brought it here." Emma said.

"That jerk! Well you mess with a mermaid, you get what you're asking for." I stated.

"What?" Emma asked.

"Zane Bennett, welcome to the mermaid game." I said. Emma smiled and looked at a confused Lewis.

**Sorry it's kind of short. Thoughts? Please review!**


	5. Chapter 5

**I read online that in season 3 of h20 Rikki and Zane break-up. This is my verison of what I think will happen. The story is in Rikki's POV. Thanks for all the reviews!**

**I don't own h20 or any of the characters.**

**So sorry about the long wait!**

"What's the mermaid game?" Lewis asked a little scared.

Emma smiled. "Ask Zane, he's about to find out." She nodded foward and we turned around to see Zane striding toward us, a smirk plastered on his face.

"Looking for this?" He asked when he arrived in front of us. Zane held out his hand and my cell phone was lying in his palm.

"Oh that's okay, you can keep it. The thing keeps heating up on me." I said with a smile. Then I discreetly held my hand in the direction of my cell phone and heated it up until I could see Zane's hand turning red.

"Ow! What the heck!" He screamed dropping my phone and clutching his hand.

"There it is." I stated as Zane tried to cool his hand down. I looked over and saw that Emma was fighting back laughter.

"What was that?" Zane asked once he collected himself.

"I told you my cell phone short circuts all the time." I said matter of factly.

"That was not what a short circut feels like, it felt like, like..." Zane seemed to be searching for the right words.

"Like the first time we kissed." I said never breaking my stare from him. I could see the realization register on his face and I smiled when he looked at me.

"Don't mess with me," I warned. And with that I scooped up my bag and left.

"Rikki, what about your cell phone?" Emma asked when she caught up to me.

"Zane probably bugged it and anyway, I wasn't lying; it does short circut all the time." I said with a smile.

"You're a piece of work." Lewis said shaking his head and laughing.

"I know," I said gleefully.

"Come on, let's go find Cleo," Lewis said.

We found Cleo feeding Ronnie at the tank and she spotted us right away. "Hey guys, how's it going?" She asked

Emma, Lewis, and I shared a knowing glance. "Let's just say I need a new cell phone. But don't worry we'll fill you in later." I leaned towards her. "We think someone's watching us."

Cleo played along and laughed like I had told her something funny. She walked into the feeding room and the three of us followed.

"Who do you think it is?" Cleo asked once she shut the door.

"My guess is Nate," I replied.

"But Nate was home yesterday remember? Zane went over there." Lewis reminded.

"True, but did you actually see Nate?" I asked.

"Well no," Lewis said.

"And Zane could've just been cutting through Nate's to get somewhere else." Emma said.

"Yeah, but where could he go from Nate's?" Lewis asked. Everyone shrugged their shoulders, but then it hit me.

"Nate's house leads to a shortcut to the lake I live near!" I said.

"Oh my gosh, it's like Zane's stalking you." Cleo exclaimed.

I leaned towards them. "For all we know he could be here right now." I joked. But right when we started laughing there was a knock on the door that made us all jump.

Cleo walked towards the door and the three of us hid since techinally we weren't supposed to be in the feeding room.

"Who is it?" Lewis hissed when Cleo shut the door.

"Zane and Nate looking for you." Cleo nodded towards Lewis.

"For me?" Lewis asked confused.

"Something about a science project." Cleo explained.

"Oh yeah, I'm supposed to lend them my astronomy book." Lewis said.

I felt like someone was watching me, so I turned around and sure enough I saw a glimpse of Zane as he ducked down.

"Emma, Cleo, I think we're going to have to rain on someone's parade." I said with a smile.

**If you go to the h20 page on Wikepida (totally spelled that wrong) and click on full episode list, then scroll down to the bottom and click on number 6 under references. That has a ton of info on the new season of h20. Please review!**


	6. Chapter 6

**I read online that in season 3 of h20 Rikki and Zane break-up. This is my verison of what I think will happen. The story is in Rikki's POV. Thanks for all the reviews!**

**I don't own h20 or any of the characters.**

**So sorry about the long wait! The italics is in Zane's POV**

_She was too smart for me, that part was clear. I could never find her alone and on the rare chance I did she pulled some mermaid stunt and got away. I don't know why I want to get her, I just do. I know she was my girlfriend, but she hurt me and **no one **hurts Zane Bennet and gets away with it._

"One mango popsicle, a grape popsicle, and a strawberry smoothie." I heard Cleo order.

"That'll be five dollars." The cashier replied.

"Thanks," Cleo took the food and handed him the money.

"Here you go," She handed me the smoothie and Emma the dripping purple popsicle.

"So what's on the agenda today girls?" Emma asked between licks of her pop.

"I don't know, how 'bout a swim?" I suggested.

"Rikki," Cleo whispered harshly. "You know it's too dangerous to go near water."

"I know, but...it's like I'm aching. I'm missing my tail more and more each day." I said.

"Then take a bath," Emma stated.

I sighed in frustration; they never understood. Rather than arguing more I decided to shut up and enjoy my smoothie.

"Uh-oh, here comes trouble." Cleo warned us. I heard the beads in the front entrance rustle and Zane strode in.

I rolled my eyes and got up. "Rikki where are you going?" Emma hissed.

"For a swim." I said.

"Rikki, you can't," Cleo pleaded.

I ignored her and walked out the door. I could hear someone follow me out and I was pretty sure who it was.

"What do you want Zane?" I snapped, my back to him.

"I just want to talk," He replied stepping closer.

A bitter laugh escaped me. "That ship sailed a long time ago."

_This is it, she's right there in front of the water. All I have to do is push her. But someone how I couldn't do it. Suddenly a dog ran between me and Rikki and accidentally pushed her towards the water._

_"You jerk!" I heard her shout as she flew towards the water. I looked around at the harbor and realized she was trapped. It was just what I wanted, but now that it was happening I changed my mind._

_"Help me," She looked up at me with fearful eyes. _

_I didn't even hesitate as I reached for the horn and blew it. "Free smoothies at the cafe!" I yelled._

_Everyone ran towards the cafe and when I looked into the water Rikki was gone. I ran to my boat and started for Mako._

I had stopped trying to keep the tears from flowing long ago. I let them fall freely into the moon pool one by one.

I had never felt that helpless before, the walls I had so carefully built up came tumbling down into a heap.

"Rikki?" I heard footsteps.

Zane, I thought as I ducked under the water.

"Rikki?" He repeated entering the cavern.

I didn't appear. "I know you're here."

Still I waited.

"I'll come in there...without anyone clothes on." He threatened.

I gave in. "Okay, okay there's no need to remove any clothing."

Zane stuck his hands in his pockets. "Can we talk?"

I pulled myself out of the water and dried myself off. Maybe it's just me but I'd like to not have a tail for this conversation.

"About?"

"Us," He shuffled his feet awkwardly.

"Look you saved me from being exposed after trying to expose me multiple times. I hardly think you deserve an award." I replied.

Zane ran his hands through his hair as if trying to find the right words. "I don't want an award, I-I just want to get back together."

"Why?"

He mumbled something I couldn't hear.

"What?"

"I miss you," Zane looked up from the floor and met my eyes.

I couldn't help myself; my heart fluttered. "You know I never wanted to break up, I was just scared."

Zane turned to me. "Of what?"

"That I was falling harder than you were." I admitted.

"That's not true." He protested.

"I know you proved that today." I pointed out.

"Rikki," He moved a piece of hair from my face. "I love you."

"I love you too, but what you pulled when I broke up with you."

"That was stupid and I'm sorry it'll never happen again."

"Then I guess we're back together." I said with a smile.

Zane pulled me in and we kissed happily ever after.

Or at least that's what I like to think will happen.

**The End**


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